A pair of winless teams hungry to reroute their season collided Friday at Frank Vertin Field in Wahpeton. Valley City struck first, but the Huskies delivered the final blow to hand the Hi-Liners a 31-27 loss in a game that featured seven lead changes. Bjorn Kubela’s 5-yard touchdown pass to Brayden Steffens on a back corner fade lifted Wahpeton to its first win of the season.

Kubela shined under duress Friday, moving with urgency to evade pressure in the pocket. The senior quarterback completed several passes on the run, including a 20-yard scoring strike to Jackson DeVries to answer an 80-yard Valley City drive in the first quarter.

Valley City signal caller Bryson Heck was the man in charge of that opening drive, capping it off with an end zone fade of his own to 6-foot-5 tight end Jack Dieterle. Heck added a second TD pass to Derek Shape and a rushing score of his own, as the former Eastern Dakota Conference rivals traded punches all night.

The Valley City running game also had plenty of success with the duo of Kaleb McClaflin and Caden Amann.

Leading the Huskies offense was senior tailback Treyton Mauch. While official stats were unavailable, Mauch easily surpassed the century mark on the ground, ripping off multiple runs of 20-plus yards and scoring a pair of hard-nosed touchdowns.

On his first TD midway through the third quarter, Mauch opted to forgo the outside run, using a jump cut to redirect his momentum and drive an opposing linebacker across the goal line from five yards out. Mauch gave Wahpeton a 24-20 lead with 9:36 remaining in the game when he avoided four Hi-Liners in the backfield, found the edge and plowed over a defensive back while reaching the football into the pylon.

Kubela’s end zone connection with Steffens came with just 45 seconds left in game. Wahpeton clinched the victory when freshman safety Jack Gilbertson corralled his second interception of the contest on Valley City’s final drive.

Gilbertson shared Essentia Health Player of the Game honors with senior kicker James Johnson. The latter kicked a 25-yard field goal as time expired in the first half that gave Wahpeton a 10-7 lead. Johnson accounted for seven points in a game where Wahpeton needed every last one.

Defensively, Landon Ralph, Isaiah Bruechert and Hunter Boelke each recorded a sack. Michael Peterson spearheaded the secondary with a pair of pass deflection in the fourth quarter.